Affair:

A sexual relationship between two married people who are not married to each other. Also, known as infidelity, cheating, two-timing, and adultry.

Theories...
There are four thoughts as to why men and women cheat on their mates. Since affiars continue to happen, we continue to try to understand why.

Genetic: Occurs in every time and in every culture (a stone age mindset living in a modern world). Otherwise, since it is woven into the fabric of who we are, all of us are "tempted," although, not everyone gives in to infidelity because we also have moral values and wills.

Emotional: People who feel unfulfilled in their marriages will seek outside relationships to fill emotional gaps that cannot be responded to in any other way. There is a fine line here between those who truly go without basic emotional needs being met by their partners and those who have an unrealistic view of relationships as they search for the perfect mate--the "Walk on the Water" syndrome. This type of an affair is the most difficult to overcome because it is actually based on two people bonding together in so many more ways than just having sex together.

The Affair Continued...

Sexual: This takes into consideration those who admit to being purely motivated by the pleasure of having sex with someone other than one's mate. The idea here is that having sex with the same person time after time gets boring after awhile. Therefore, enjoying physical intimacy with someone new adds spice to life. Some even believe that by having an affair outside of thier marriages, they will be able to appreciate their mates more, thus enhancing thier marriages. Of course, their mates never seem to be able to agree to that concept.

Sinful: Those who view manogomy from a religious point of view see affairs as being outside of God's will and the teachings of His Word. As a result, they perceive infidelity as sin that can only be forgiven when the sinner reconciles with God and his/her mate. The weakness of this approach is that God seems to have a shorter memory than His forgiven children.

The Contradiction...

Our modern American culture still extolls the virtues of monogomous relationships. Despite the current acceptance of alternative lifestyles (gay, swinging, open marriages,etc.), there is still little room for those in an exclusive relationship to experience an intimate relationship with a third party.

That being said, the subject of extramarital affairs becomes all the more curious in that surveys reveal some 70% of married people admit having cheated on their mates. To make the point even further, modern medical science has given us DNA testing. When applied to newborn children, we now understand that at least 15% of them are not related to their mother's husbands. Somebody had some explaining to do and it isn't the fathers.

Historically, ancient cultures practiced multi-partnering. Even the Biblical record is replete with numerous accounts of men who were allowed to have many wives. Solomon is the prime example with over 500 wives and concubines (sexual playmates). Of course, he found himself in crisis time after time due to his amazing collection of lovers.

Since then, the concept of manogomous relationships has been solidly identified with modern day society and civility. Those who stray from their singular mates are now considered to be immoral, unfaithful, no good cheating bums.Some are indeed all of that and more. Others simply have not been able to gather the courage needed to tell their mates that it is over between them

An affair is rarely nothing more than a sexual mistake. More times than not, it is a clear indication that the marriage is either in serious trouble or finished.